Overview of the French presidential candidates' EU-positions

14 Apr 2017 - 01:03

The Dutch national elections on March 15th were looked upon by the rest of Europe with certain suspicion. Yet, even though Eurosceptic parties such as the PVV and the Forum voor Democratie gained several seats in parliament, it cannot be said that the results were the decisive blow for the EU some in Europe feared. Instead, the results have been claimed as the elections that stopped the ‘anti-EU wave’.

Now all eyes are on France, where the presidential elections will kick off with 11 candidates on the 23rd of April. The upcoming French elections are considered highly unpredictable, but will at the same time be of major importance for the future of the European Union.

Presidential candidate Marine Le Pen is pushing for a ‘Frexit’ and has a real chance of winning both the first election round and the second final round. Despite ‘pro-EU’ candidate Macron’s rising star, it is everything but certain that he will face Le Pen in the final round. What is certain however, is that the major candidates have varying ideas of what the EU should look like in what proves to be another key election for the future of the European Union.

An overview of the EU positions of the five major presidential candidates can be found in the mattermap below.